5/19/21 | 11:40 AM: Pierre LeBrun said on his podcast that “Gallant’s interview with the Rangers left a really positive impression on the Rangers and Chris Drury, so we will see if that ultimately means he gets a call back after the World Championships.” (The Athletic)
5/14/21 | 5:44 PM: Pierre LeBrun said that Gallant’s interview with the Rangers today “went well.”
The Rangers are expected to interview 3-4 more candidates. (LeBrun)
5/19/21 | 11:12 AM: The Rangers have confirmed the hiring of Grier as a Hockey Operations Advisor.
The Rangers describe his role by saying, “Grier will work with the hockey operations department in both hockey-related decisions and off-ice player and prospect development. In addition, he will assist prospects in the Rangers organization, including players with the Rangers’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, with on-ice development.”
9:27PM: Drury reportedly asked Leetch to remain with the organization, but Leetch decided to leave. (NY Post)
Leetch’s role included being involved in hockey operations, “off-ice” player development and assessing the team’s prospects. (NY Post)
8:50 PM: Brian Leetch has left his job as “Hockey Operations Advisor” with the Rangers. (Larry Brooks)
Leetch just finished his fourth season in the role.
Leetch and David Quinn are very good friends and have known each other since they were in high school.
5/14/21 | 10:40 AM: Elliotte Friedman said on the 30 Thoughts Podcast, “I think what Chris Drury is going to do is they are doing their research on candidates. They have made it clear that they are looking for someone with experience and some of these guys they know, if you look at the list of potential options there are some people there that you can look up and down and say that the Rangers know this guy, that guy, they know this guy, they don’t know that particular guy. One of the people I don’t think they know very well that they are doing a lot of research on is Gallant and I do think that they are potentially interested in Gallant, but they are doing their research on him. They know Hartley, Chris Drury certainly does, he was his first NHL head coach, they know Tortorella, I don’t think he’s the favorite, one of the reasons why I think Tortorella’s name got out there is because the word is that James Dolan really likes Tortorella. I think Drury is going to have a big say in this particular hire, obviously.”
6:02PM: Gerard Gallant is considered to be at the top of the list for Drury. (NY Post)
10:46 AM: With the firing of David Quinn the Rangers join the Columbus Blue Jackets, Arizona Coyotes, Seattle Kraken as teams currently without a head coach.
Both Columbus and Arizona announced over the weekend that they were parting ways with John Tortorella and Rick Tocchet, respectively.
In addition to Tortorella and Tocchet other head coaching candidates include Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau, Bob Hartley and Claude Julien.
Coaches that Chris Drury played for in the NHL include Hartley, who just won the KHL Championship, Darryl Sutter, back coaching in Calgary, Lindy Ruff, coaching the Devils, Tom Renney and John Tortorella.
11:33 AM: The Rangers have confirmed that Quinn, David Oliver, Jacques Martin, and Greg Brown have been relieved of their coaching duties.
Chris Drury said in a statement, “I would like to thank David Quinn, David Oliver, Jacques Martin, and Greg Brown for all of their efforts and dedication to the Rangers. I wish each of them the best in their future endeavors. We will begin our search for a new head coach immediately.”
10:44 AM: David Quinn has been “dismissed” as head coach of the Rangers, according to Larry Brooks. (Brooks)
Quinn has been the Rangers head coach for the past three seasons and still had two years left on his deal.
The rest of the coaching staff, except for Benoit Allaire, have also been fired. (Brooks)
Quinn had a record of 96-87-25 as coach of the Rangers.